This is by far one of the most irritating, yet most common statements I have heard from people regarding colorblindness and racism. People often say that they are not racist because they are friends with black people (or other ethnicities for that matter), but they continue to do/say racist things. I think we are passed the point of the majority of people intentionally being racist. Sure there are still some people who hold very racist ideas, but I would venture to guess that the majority of people would not consider themselves to be racist. Today many people consider themselves to be “colorblind”, but the problem with colorblind ideology is that our concept of what racism (and racist ideology) looks like is completely different now. For example, when driving have you ever gotten a sudden urge to lock your car doors? What was the demographic around you? When looking for an apartment, or maybe just driving through a neighborhood and you felt unsafe, who was around you? Have you ever made a joke where African Americans or another minority group was the punch line? I do not think that having done any of these things makes someone a racist, but all of these actions are racist. They stem from historically constructed ideas and stereotypes that have become engrained in us. The fact that we do not realize some of the “racist” notions we have is why people think that we are “post-racial.”
There was a study conducted in Chicago where researchers showed several videos of “different” neighborhoods to participants, who were then asked to rate the neighborhoods on safety, comfortability, desirability, etc. In all of the videos, someone was taking out their trash, other person was fixing a car, someone else was walking their dog, etc. The houses, the cars, everything was identical, in the neighborhoods of the same income level. They showed both working and middle class neighborhoods, and concluded that there was not a significant difference based on social class. The only thing that was different was the race of the people. Some of the neighborhoods were all white, some all black, and some were racially mixed. They found that the majority of participants (both black and white) did not rank the all black neighborhoods very favorably. I think that a large of part this is because we still associate blackness with criminality (which is why “black” drugs have higher penalties and why racial profiling continues to be a problem.)
I think that race is still very much an issue in our culture, and it is one that people do not talk about often because they claim to be color-blind, and claim that they have no racist notions. We can have black friends (you can even be black) and still hold racist ideas that you are not really conscious of. People who take sociology or African American history courses I think are more likely to understand the history of racism and its lingering influence on our perception to race. However, for everyone who does not have the opportunity to go to college, it is easier to buy into colorblind ideology. As I mentioned before, many people claim that since they have black friends they are not part of the problem, but having friends doesn’t mean that you don’t have preconceived notions of race. I think one way to combat this problem is through the media. If there wasn’t a misrepresentation of African Americans as being violent or as criminals (for example, remember the pictures of looting (black people) vs. surviving (white people) during Hurricane Katrina). How do you think we can confront the continued misrepresentation and conception of race when the majority of people see race as a non-issue?
Residential neighborhood study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3704191/
This is an extremely interesting issue. As a white individual, i have been raised in a white family that accepts all races, genders, and sexual orientations. I like to think of myself as colorblind, but Paul brings up a good point because to be colorblind is in fact to be ignorant. I have many black friends and try not to see them any differently than my white friends, but they have been raised into black families that have given them a different perspective on life. America is still a somewhat racist country because we racially stereotype and peg people based upon their race. I understand that my black friends are often weary to immerse themselves into white culture because of the hate and racism that has been done to their ancestors. I believe that our country is getting better with racial equality and we elected a black president, but the conclusion has not arrived. In the blog post, Chelsea talked about the social experiment done to look at different kinds of neighborhoods. America still looks at the ghetto as a mostly African American idea. Unfortunately, this does seem to changing because all black neighborhoods are often socioeconomically poor and do not have the means to move up in the world. I believe that this issue has to be solved before we can move toward racial equality.
ReplyDeleteI definitely share in this frustration! Colorblindness has intentions of creating a focus on the humanity of all outweighing our differences. However, this undermines the suffering and oppression of African Americans which white people have never faced. It undermines the effects of that oppression that still linger. It ignores the fact that African Americans are still oppressed in many ways! It ignores the richness of African American culture, religion, and expression. Colorblindness was meant to remove color; instead, it removes the value we could otherwise draw from cultures of color. I once heard a woman describe her disgust with colorblindness as coming from her understanding that people were "removing" her color (unsuccessfully) because: 1. Her color is not good enough. 2. To her, the color is THERE, and not leaving. She enjoys the culture of her color, as well as its testament to her familial history. Removing this woman's color was removing bits of her identity. 3. Removing the color as an effort to remove white guilt.
ReplyDeleteColorblindness is wrong on a number of levels, but, most importantly, it can be harmful to the emotions and identities of some African Americans, even if they do not connect strongly with their heritage.
I can identify with the woman that Aubrey mentioned. At times, I find it difficult to be colorblind, because of the fear of being prejudged. That fear is due to the awareness of the fact that judging based on my race or ethnicity has, will, and can be a reality. I have been aware of society's (possible) perception and of me based on my appearance for a long time, so thoughts when considering other people can be categorized as racist. Sometimes I judge people because I know that they are going to judge me. I look at body language and analyze verbal language, which is why I find it true that people of color are a member of multiple cultures. When interacting with other races, I feel that as an African-American, I work harder to maintain my identity while being able to present myself clearly.
ReplyDeleteTo not be colorblind is to work harder at understanding yourself in relation to other people; it is to show humanity. People do not want to work at understanding and displaying humanity, which I believe is why we feel the way we do about race relations today. I do regard colorblindness as a display of naivety, but to read too much into racial differences is obsessive. I think that everyone